Chapter 773

A light drizzle fell as Vivian Laurent stepped out of the hospital entrance.

She walked toward Imperial General Hospital with an umbrella, heading straight for the ICU.

Through the glass window, she saw the little girl lying quietly in bed with steady breathing. The heart monitor emitted rhythmic beeps.

A nurse approached softly. "Dr. Laurent, all her vitals are stable."

Vivian nodded, her gaze lingering on the bandages around the child's legs.

The accident scene photos flashed through her mind—the crushed car where the mother had shielded her daughter with her own body.

"Any updates?" Vivian called Lucas Lefèvre.

Keyboard clicks sounded through the phone. "Surveillance shows it was a car with fake plates. Still tracking it down."

Hanging up, Vivian sighed. All she could do was wait.

As night fell, alarms blared in the ICU.

"Dr. Laurent! She's awake!" A nurse rushed over.

Vivian sprinted to the room.

The girl's eyes brimmed with terror. "Where am I? Where's Mommy?"

Vivian reached for her stethoscope. "Easy now. Let me check you first."

"My legs hurt..." The child's voice trembled. "Mommy promised to take me to see fireworks today."

Vivian's hands stilled. It was the girl's birthday.

"Your mother..." Vivian hesitated.

Tears rolled silently down the child's cheeks. "They're gone, aren't they?"

Silence swallowed the room. The heart monitor's beeps grew deafening.

"Daddy promised me a princess dress." The girl stared at the ceiling. "Said we'd go to Disneyland."

Vivian's throat tightened. The accident report flashed before her—the father's hands gripping the steering wheel till the end.

"They loved you very much." Vivian gently held the small hand. "That's why you must live well."

Rain tapped against the window. What should have been a joyous birthday night echoed only with medical equipment.

"Did they die because I wanted to go to the amusement park...?"

"No!" Vivian cut in sharply. "It was an accident."

But the girl had already curled into a ball, burying her face in the pillow.

Watching the trembling figure, Vivian found herself speechless for the first time. No words could comfort this pain.

She remembered how the mother's body had still been shielding her child when rescuers pulled them from the wreckage. That image would haunt this little girl forever.